London Irish
Well-known member
Although the results have tailed off a bit, the pre-season campaign I think have gone as well as can be expected for McGhee, I reckon he'll be pleased.
He has unearthed two excellent players in Molango and Jarrett who will be significant part of our first team this year, we have probably got another in Currie who may, or may not, be better than what we've already got, but it's up to him now to take this opportunity.
It's obviously not been an unqualified success, we don't have our targetman, losing Iwelumo and Kerekes not paying off is a blow. We also crucially lack one more playmaker in central midfield.
McGhee in his Argus assessments has been brutally honest about these two major squad shortcomings. He will eventually plug those gaps but it may be quite a few weeks, and we may have to resort to the unpredictability of loan availables to do this, who knows. Until then, McGhee is going to have sweat on formations and gameplans that can mask our deficiencies in these areas. As McGhee is someone who has been constantly firefighting squad shortcomings since his arrival and coming out on top, I am by no means downhearted.
But I think we have to be realistic, that our start in the Championship could be very difficult and it may take a few lost games for McGhee to eventually get the right alchemy.
What is clear from Reid starting at rightback tonight is that we have mini fitness crisis in midfield. Neither Rodger or Chippy have made it and their natural replacement Reid looks a half-fit player.
It will be a big gamble to play Reid alongside Oatway on Saturday. Will we really compete in the tackle and for the first ball in this crucial area - it's a major worry.
The alternative of Nicolas, well, the buzz about him is different to Currie, isn't it? Currie is a free agent and if his wage demands are modest, he represents less of a risk if we do take him on. Nicolas is a contracted Chelsea player and the finances of any deal for him could give us cause for long contemplation. The reality is, he has not set the pre-seasons alight and McGhee will be asking himself why he should risk either a very finite playing/transfer budget or even one of his available loans on him.
The back four and a fit Kuipers pick themselves, as long as the midfield headache doesn't require either one of Virgo and Harding to play forward. I think Hinshelwood has been one of the real successes of the pre-seasons and he could even be a good bet in midfield.
The news of what McGhee will finally do here in the next few days will have a huge bearing on our start to the season.
The problem of the wide players is a happy one, we have 3 in-form players going for 2 spots. Naylor thinks Jonah is likely to start on the left, while confusingly adding that Currie and Jarrett will compete for the right flank spot. But Jarrett seems to have played almost exclusively on the left so I can't see how that one will work out. Last year's two right-flank options OGH and Piercy have had undistinguished pre-seasons. I wonder if we will go for the old heads of Jonah and Currie and save our new wonder boy Jarrett for a more attacking Withdean gameplan for Plymouth and Coventry.
Maheta and who else up front? Seems to be narrowing down to OGH and Lee, the former the tried-and-tested warhorse, the latter who has had a good pre-season and whose touch and shooting ability could make him a good surprise choice up front.
No doubt if he is picked NSC will go into meltdown and the more important discussion about our central midfield selection will be ignored
I'm looking for us to grind Reading down as efficiently as we did Bristol at Ashton Gate and then go for something a little more offensively minded against Plymouth and Coventry.
Without our best striker and best midfielder, even a return of 3 points from our first 3 games would be a decent return. Two would be acceptable. I hope we at least deny Plymouth 3 points in our first relegation six-pointer. More than 3pts and McGhee deserves to be in line for the first manager of the month award.
He has unearthed two excellent players in Molango and Jarrett who will be significant part of our first team this year, we have probably got another in Currie who may, or may not, be better than what we've already got, but it's up to him now to take this opportunity.
It's obviously not been an unqualified success, we don't have our targetman, losing Iwelumo and Kerekes not paying off is a blow. We also crucially lack one more playmaker in central midfield.
McGhee in his Argus assessments has been brutally honest about these two major squad shortcomings. He will eventually plug those gaps but it may be quite a few weeks, and we may have to resort to the unpredictability of loan availables to do this, who knows. Until then, McGhee is going to have sweat on formations and gameplans that can mask our deficiencies in these areas. As McGhee is someone who has been constantly firefighting squad shortcomings since his arrival and coming out on top, I am by no means downhearted.
But I think we have to be realistic, that our start in the Championship could be very difficult and it may take a few lost games for McGhee to eventually get the right alchemy.
What is clear from Reid starting at rightback tonight is that we have mini fitness crisis in midfield. Neither Rodger or Chippy have made it and their natural replacement Reid looks a half-fit player.
It will be a big gamble to play Reid alongside Oatway on Saturday. Will we really compete in the tackle and for the first ball in this crucial area - it's a major worry.
The alternative of Nicolas, well, the buzz about him is different to Currie, isn't it? Currie is a free agent and if his wage demands are modest, he represents less of a risk if we do take him on. Nicolas is a contracted Chelsea player and the finances of any deal for him could give us cause for long contemplation. The reality is, he has not set the pre-seasons alight and McGhee will be asking himself why he should risk either a very finite playing/transfer budget or even one of his available loans on him.
The back four and a fit Kuipers pick themselves, as long as the midfield headache doesn't require either one of Virgo and Harding to play forward. I think Hinshelwood has been one of the real successes of the pre-seasons and he could even be a good bet in midfield.
The news of what McGhee will finally do here in the next few days will have a huge bearing on our start to the season.
The problem of the wide players is a happy one, we have 3 in-form players going for 2 spots. Naylor thinks Jonah is likely to start on the left, while confusingly adding that Currie and Jarrett will compete for the right flank spot. But Jarrett seems to have played almost exclusively on the left so I can't see how that one will work out. Last year's two right-flank options OGH and Piercy have had undistinguished pre-seasons. I wonder if we will go for the old heads of Jonah and Currie and save our new wonder boy Jarrett for a more attacking Withdean gameplan for Plymouth and Coventry.
Maheta and who else up front? Seems to be narrowing down to OGH and Lee, the former the tried-and-tested warhorse, the latter who has had a good pre-season and whose touch and shooting ability could make him a good surprise choice up front.
No doubt if he is picked NSC will go into meltdown and the more important discussion about our central midfield selection will be ignored
I'm looking for us to grind Reading down as efficiently as we did Bristol at Ashton Gate and then go for something a little more offensively minded against Plymouth and Coventry.
Without our best striker and best midfielder, even a return of 3 points from our first 3 games would be a decent return. Two would be acceptable. I hope we at least deny Plymouth 3 points in our first relegation six-pointer. More than 3pts and McGhee deserves to be in line for the first manager of the month award.
